BLEACHED. This combination of handout pictures released by Japan’s National Institute for Environmental Studies and created on July 18, 2017, shows coral reefs (L) in Toyotama, off the coast of Tsushima island taken in January 2016 before bleaching and the same coral reefs (R) in December 2017, after bleaching due to high water temperature. National Institute for Environmental Studies/AFP

About 30% of the coral reef off the coast of Tsushima island in Japan, which lies in the temperate zone, suffered bleaching, researchers say

SERIOUS DAMAGE. This photo taken on November 20, 2014 shows an aerial view of the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of the Whitsunday Islands, along the central coast of Queensland, Australia. File photo by Sarah Lai/AFP

An independent report says the ‘unprecedented’ bleaching and coral die-off in 2016 was ‘a game changer’